Jon Cronshaw's Author Diary - The Real Life of an Indie Author | Writing | Publishing | Disability

This week, I’ve been working across a few different projects. I’ve made more progress on Seeker’s Reckoning, continued writing Clout Maxxing, and spent time editing Seven of Swords.

I’ve also finally decided what I’m going to do with Clout Maxxing. Rather than leaving it as a wacky side project, I’m going to run it as a Patreon serial, posting a new chapter every week.

There are a couple of personal milestones this week too. My wife and I have now been together for 25 years, and I’ve reached nine years of recording my Author Diary podcast without missing a single week.

On the reading side, I’ve returned to He Who Fights With Monsters after DNFing it earlier this year. This time around, something has clicked, and I’m really enjoying it.

Plus, the usual thoughts on writing, reading and life as an indie author.

This week, I’ve been making more progress on my strange little LitRPG side project. I still don’t quite know what I’m going to do with it, but I’m having far too much fun with it to stop.

I’ve also returned to Seeker’s Reckoning, the third standalone novel in the Ravenglass Guardians series. I’m around 25% into the draft now. This one has a very different feel from the previous books, combining archaeological thriller, jungle adventure and eldritch horror in the Ravenglass Universe.

I also talk about adjusting to life without my retired guide dog Digit and what it’s been like suddenly losing that constant companion from my day-to-day routine.

On the reading side, I’m currently on the third Discount Dan’s Backroom Bargains book. It’s a wonderfully fun series, although at this point I’m starting to suspect it’s deliberately trolling me with all the emotional dog stuff.

Plus, the usual thoughts on writing, reading and life as an indie author.

This week, I finished the first drafts of both Wyvern Academy and The Waywarden, which means two more projects are now moving on to their next stages.

I’ve also started playing around with a completely different side project, a slightly wacky LitRPG set in Britain.

I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do with it yet, but it’s been a fun palate cleanser between other projects and a chance to write something very different.

There’s also a much more personal update this week. Tomorrow, I’ll be saying goodbye to my guide dog Digit. He’s now retired and is being rehomed after being my constant companion since January 2018.

He’ll be hugely missed, and I talk a little about what it means to reach the end of our time working together. After that, I’ll be waiting to be matched with my next guide dog.

This week, I finished Seven of Swords and sent the completed draft off to my editor.

With that one done, I’ve started work on a new novella set in the Ravenglass Universe called The Waywarden. It’s a nobledark ranger story set on the border between Ostreich and Molotok, and I talk about the story and its place in the wider world.

I also did something completely different this week. I went gliding in an unpowered aircraft with Galloway’s, a local charity supporting blind and visually impaired people. It was a fantastic experience, and I talk about what it was like getting up into the air without an engine.

Plus, the usual thoughts on writing, storytelling and life as an indie author.

I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather this week, so writing has been slower than usual, but I’ve still made progress on both Seven of Swords and Wyvern Academy.

Away from the writing, there’s a much bigger change coming. My guide dog’s retirement is now imminent, and he’ll be rehomed early next month. I talk about preparing for that goodbye and what the next few weeks are likely to look like.

I also had my assessment for a new guide dog on Wednesday. The process is moving forward, but it sounds as though I could be without a dog for a while before the right match comes along.

This week, I’m around 30% of the way through the first draft of Seven of Swords and talk about how the story is progressing as I get deeper into the book.

I’ve also spent some more time on Wyvern Academy, adding three new chapters to the first act and continuing to develop the story beyond the original Wyvern Rider novella.

On the reading side, I’ve finally finished Will Wight’s Cradle series.

This week, I’m around 40% of the way through my draft of The Hammer and the Crown, book five in my Ravenglass Legends series.

The story is gathering momentum, and I talk about how the draft is progressing as I move deeper into Ragnar and Maja’s next adventure.

I’ve also returned to an older project, Wyvern Academy, a follow-up to my Wyvern Rider novella for Patreon.

On the reading side, I’m nearing the end of Will Wight’s Cradle series. I’m now on the final book and have been hugely impressed by how the series has developed.

Wight has done a fantastic job of building the characters, escalating the stakes and improving his craft across twelve books while keeping the story compulsively readable.

This week, I’ve finished Six of Swords and sent it off for editing, bringing another Ravenglass Chronicles novella to the next stage of production.

I’ve also made good progress on The Hammer and the Crown, book five in the Ravenglass Legends series. I’m now around 25,000 words into the draft as Ragnar and Maja’s story continues.

I also talk about my ongoing readthrough of Will Wight’s Cradle series. I’m currently on book eight, Bloodline, and thoroughly enjoying it.

One of the things that has stood out is how much Wight’s craft develops as the series progresses, particularly in terms of pacing, character work and handling an increasingly large story without losing momentum.

This week I’ve continued making progress on Six of Swords and now have 17 chapters drafted. The book is moving along well, and I’m getting close to the final stretch.

I’ve also been working on The Last Eagle, a prequel novella for a potential new Arthurian Britain series. The idea is to take the legends of Arthur and place them in a grittier, more grounded post-Roman Britain, while still keeping the heroic and mythic elements that make the stories so enduring.

That project also tied in nicely with a couple of recent visits to Lammerside Castle and Pendragon Castle. Both places have plenty of history and atmosphere, and Pendragon in particular comes with its own Arthurian associations.

So this week’s diary is a mix of Ravenglass progress, new Arthurian ideas, and a bit of real-world historical inspiration.

This week I’ve been making good progress on Six of Swords.

I’m 12 chapters into the draft, which probably puts me somewhere around the halfway point.

I’ve also been going back over what I’ve written so far for The Hammer and the Crown, continuing work on the next Ravenglass Legends novel.

One of the more satisfying things this week has been returning to older projects. I revisited Blind Sight, a prequel novella to Blind Gambit that I originally abandoned back in 2018. I’ve finally finished it and published it on Patreon.

I’ve also been working through another story from my open projects folder, this time set in the Black Death world, which should hopefully be ready next week.

On the reading front, I’m continuing with Will Wight’s Cradle series and have now reached Book Five, Ghostwater. I’m really enjoying the series, and I’ve also finally worked out why I struggled to follow parts of the second book, Soulsmith. It turned out to be a useful lesson in storytelling craft.